During the Indiana Fever's 95-91 overtime victory over the Atlanta Dream, a WNBA referee explicitly mentioned Caitlin Clark's name in a video review announcement. It caught the attention of former NFL referee Terry McAulay.

McAulay strongly called out the WNBA officials on social media. He noted that he had never heard a referee explicitly name a player over the microphone in any sport he has ever played, watched, or officiated.

“Using a player’s name during a foul or review announcement is incredibly unprofessional,” McAulay wrote on X.

With just over 10 seconds left in overtime, Fever star Caitlin Clark was called for a foul on Atlanta's Rhyne Howard while Howard was shooting a three-pointer.

Indiana challenged the call, but the ruling was upheld after review.

What happened next caught everyone's attention. The official announcing the result did not simply say the contact was illegal. The referee used Clark's name while explaining the ruling.

“After review, the contact by Caitlin Clark is deemed illegal,” the referee said. “Therefore, it is an unsuccessful challenge. Indiana is charged a timeout.”

It did not sit well with McAulay. The longtime NFL official further added on X:

"I've never heard it done before in any sport I've watched or been involved with. It personalizes the ruling, which should always be avoided".

McAulay was not saying the foul itself was wrong. His criticism was about the way the decision was announced.

But several others have reacted strongly to the foul call itself

Veteran analyst Skip Bayless was among those who criticized the foul itself. He argued that the contact did not appear to be enough to justify such an important three-point foul.

“How could that ref call that crucial 3-point foul on Caitlin Clark, then stand by it when challenged?” Bayless wrote on X. “THERE WAS NO ILLEGAL CONTACT. Just makes you wonder.”

Indiana reporter Scott Agness also expressed his frustration with the officiating.

“Huh? That's a foul. I'm baffled. The officiating has not been good today,” Agness wrote.

On the live ESPN broadcast, analyst Rebecca Lobo questioned the contact intensity while watching the slow-motion replay.

"It's a touch, and you don't call that all game long. I will be surprised, Ryan [Ruocco], if they don't overturn it here… you'll see some fingertips on Rhyne Howard by Caitlin Clark, but it does not impact at all the balance with which Howard takes the shot," she added.

This was not the first time a Clark-related call became a story in the WNBA.

One of the latest came only days before the Atlanta game.

Earlier this month, Clark picked up her league-leading eighth technical foul of the season after making contact with an official along the baseline during a win over the Chicago Sky, triggering an automatic one-game suspension under WNBA rules.

The league reversed the call hours later, but not before fans flooded social media accusing officials of an overly quick whistle.

In September 2025, Clark was fined $200 by the league for a social media post reading "refs couldn't stop us," after a playoff win over Atlanta.

The Fever star has been involved in several officiating controversies since entering the league.

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Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi